A typical afternoon for Madison...

Today Madison woke up at 9:30am READY to eat…fussed all the way to her room and up until I got the bottle in her mouth. We turned on our Sesame Street CD, like we do EVERY morning. It took her about 20 minutes to take the 4 oz bottle and 2 NICE burps. Then we made our way to the changing table. That’s when our favorite song came on…”The Monster in the Mirror” by Grover. Mommy danced her BEST dance and Madison kicked along to the beat with a HUGE smile and a couple of coos. It was AWESOME to see her get so excited. It’s always good when we both start our days off with smiles!!! Then I changed her and we had play time! We played on the floor mat and touched all the fun animals. Then we practiced tummy time…until breakfast came up! Ooops! Then I got her in the BABY BJORN and went downstairs, so mommy could have some breakfast. I ate some waffles (standing up at the counter) with her strapped to my chest…spilling some syrup on her head and arms…another ooops! She quickly let me know she was over the Bjorn and we went back upstairs to put her down for a nap. She got swaddled…got the Binky…and was rocked to sleep. She was down for a nap by 11:00am, with mom watching her on the monitor. Half hour into the nap she is whining…lost the Binky! Mom fixed it and she’s back to dreamland. Mommy takes this time to check email with the monitor in hand.
It’s 11:45 and she is up again. I try to insert Binky…but she is SMILING!!! She just melts my heart with her crooked, toothless grin. I decide to pick her up because I think she’s hungry AGAIN. I put her in her bouncy chair, on the counter, while I make the bottle and she is totally FLIRTING with herself in the mirror. Again, heart=melting! We play by the mirror for a few minutes until she assures me she is hungry. At 12:00 we go in her room and listen to KEARTH 101 while she eats and I sing the songs I know to her. This time 30 minutes for a 5 oz bottle and two more GREAT burps, (think drunk frat boy)! When she finished eating I laid her in her crib with the mirror and got her bath ready. (Do you see a trend? She LOVES to look at herself!) I gave her a bath and she seemed to really enjoy it. I found that it is much easier to get a naked baby out of the bath when there are two people, but we made do. I wrapped her up in the towel and a warm sensation came over me…yep…she PEED on me…AGAIN. (Anyone know how to get a baby out of the tub and to the changing table with out getting peed on?) Then I got her dressed and we went downstairs so mommy could eat lunch. This time I put her in her vibrating chair, (and nothing got spilled on her)! She was looking sleepy so when I finished I took her back up to her room and as soon as I sat down to rock her she was out! Did not even swaddle her! So, I got back up and put her in her crib…back to dreamland for Madie, back to the computer and monitor for mommy! AARRGG…she lost the Binky again…so I put it back in her mouth and give her a few minutes of butt pat, but I do it on the side, trying to stay out of her field of vision…OHHH GOOD…I think she’s out again! We’ll have to wait and see…(it’s now 2:15)! She’s crying AGAIN…this time with a fist FULL of her own hair in her hand! Re-insert Binky, more butt patting and she’s out again (it’s now 2:35). NOPE…back up again…this time I take her out and rock her…tired of going back and forth I brought her back in my room and I lay her on the bed next to me and wonder…Why won’t she stay asleep? (Now it’s 3:00).

Any suggestions on how to get her to take a nap longer than 30 minutes???

Our Hospital Stay

Sad but true, Baby Madison has already spent several nights in a hospital at only 5 weeks old! Here's the story...

She wasn't her normal sweet self over the weekend...way more fussy than usual and had a hard time sleeping. I didn't think much of it, thought it was a growth spurt. Then Tuesday morning Nolan left to work on a machine in Colorado. She was super fussy all day, cried more than ever. After one of her naps I noticed she was really hot. Luckily, Lyndsie came over to help me take her temp...didn't want to try the dreaded rectal temp alone for the first time! It was 101.5! I freaked out, called the on-call pediatrician who said I need to go to the ER right away...then I started balling and freaking out even more! My sweet sis-in-law was amazing at trying to calm me and she called my mom to help. My mom came right over and we took her to Long Beach Memorial, Miller Children's Hospital. She was taken right away for a chest X-Ray, they drew blood, got a urine sample via catheter, and attempted a spinal tap (tried 3 times and never got a clean sample). Then they admitted us to a room where they stared an IV, antibiotics, and put her on a heart monitor. It was AWFUL!!! Hearing her scream while they poked her tiny little limbs trying to find a vein...and Nolan was out of town...I was an absolute mess!

We stayed at the hospital until Friday. I spent every night by her side, sleep deprived, and annoyed by LOUD beeping monitors. My amazing mother would relieve me during the day so I could shower and get a few hours of sleep. Finally, all of her tests came back negative for bacterial viruses. Turns out she has Enterovirus Meningitis, sounds bad but it is pretty much just a typical flu. It is very common in babies, especially in the summer. Because babies have underdeveloped immune system they always admit them for at least 48 hours since the viruses can move very quickly.

We are home now, (Nolan got home Friday night, he missed it all), and she is doing great! You would have never known she was sick. Unfortunately, she is still considered very contagious so we are confined to the house for 2 weeks! It's ok...just more time to spend with my cutie pie!

She is starting to smile and coo and it just melts my heart...I see so much of Nolan in her tiny face and I just love it...knowing we made this beautiful baby just makes me love him more. He spent his first Father's Day in bed with her watching golf and baseball all day! It was adorable!

Also, thank you all for your well wishes, prayers, hugs and kisses...they were needed more than you know...and for those of you just finding out we know you love us too! It was such a whirlwind event I only had time to post quick messages on Facebook.

Madison's Newborn Pictures

We had Madison's pictures taken when she was just 7 days old...

The rest of Madison's newborn picture session is now online at www.jessicalakephotography.com; there you will enter the website and at the bottom right corner click the tab that says "proofing". Once there it will ask you for a password and you'll enter: madison.

We hope you enjoy these pictures our little sweetie!!!

To make is easy we posted a link to the pictures...just look in the right hand column to find the link! ENJOY!!!

She's 4 weeks old already!

Wow, how time flies! We can't believe our little munchkin is already 4 weeks old, and she is doing great!

We were released from the hospital on Mother's day. The day started off great and ended up awful! We had a super rough first night...I think Madison cried from 1am to 4am straight! Since then we have settled into a pretty good routine, (thank goodness!) I am having a tough time breastfeeding so she is mainly getting formula, which might be a good thing, since she goes between 6 and 7 hours between feedings at night! You'd think I'd be well rested...but, no...still exhausted! She's still a guessing game that takes up all my brain power!

We have made it out of the house a couple of times and she has been pretty good. She has already been to the ranch! She doesn't always love her car seat but she is starting to get used to it. She really enjoys her bath time, but like to pee on mommy before mommy can get a diaper on her...mommy needs to learn to move faster!

Being a new mommy has been hard at times but overall she is a wonderful baby and we are truly enjoying having her in our lives. Over the last weekend we were all lying in the bed together...Makalani included, and Nolan and I just laughed at our cute little family and talked about how great our new life is.

If you haven't met little Ms. Madison yet you are missing out! She's a sweetheart!